


Sejun Catboy Stuck In A Tree

by sodapeach



Category: VICTON (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cat/Human Hybrids, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Humor, Hybrids, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 08:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24846655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sodapeach/pseuds/sodapeach
Summary: On Seungwoo’s morning jog, he runs into a hybrid in distress who needs help getting out of a tree.
Relationships: Han Seungwoo & Im Sejun, Han Seungwoo/Im Sejun
Comments: 24
Kudos: 90
Collections: Catboys and Friends, Lucky 7 Victon





	Sejun Catboy Stuck In A Tree

**Author's Note:**

> _Prompt #022: Catboy Sejun stuck in a tree._
> 
> Thank you so much to the prompter for sending this in! It was a lot of fun to write, and I hope it’s just as fun to read!

When Seungwoo stepped out of his apartment, a cool, refreshing breeze brushed against his face, reminding him of home. Whenever he thought of home in a good, familiar way, it always meant that he was going to have a good day. With that, he was encouraged and squatted down onto the concrete to slip on his running shoes. 

Running wasn’t his favorite way to exercise, but on a day like this, how could he stay inside? What happiness could barbells give him that the trees couldn’t? Why trudge along hopelessly on a treadmill when he could follow the curve of the river? There were birds to be seen! Stray dogs to pet! An infinite sky to marvel! His mood couldn’t have been any better as he set out for his morning jog, and that always guaranteed a good day— a day for no surprises or incidents or mishaps.

He made his way down to the park near his building and found the trail he wanted. It followed the outward curve of the park before dividing the center in half and snaking back around into a large “S” shape, and it was the perfect running trail to see everything there was to see in the park without having to wander around up and down the grassy hills.

With a destination in mind, he put his earphones in with his favorite jogging playlist, and took off. He made it to the center of the “S” before needing to take a break and did not stop until he reached a patch of shade on the trail underneath a large tree at the bend. 

Once shaded, he bent over out of breath and grabbed onto his knees to prop himself up. Sweat poured off of him, and the only thing louder than his music was the pulse pounding in his ears, but it felt good to run. His chest burned, and his whole body ached, but it felt  _ good.  _ So good, in fact, that he was ready to start up again when something sharp pinged him right in the middle of his forehead.

“Ow!” Seungwoo shouted, rubbing the welt that formed on his skin. He looked up to see what had fallen out of the tree only to find an anxious looking man straddling one of the branches above. No, not just a man, a catboy. His dark hair blended in with the base of his large pointed ears that faded into a soft silver, and the tail that curved around the limb for balance had black and silver stripes all the way down. One arm held on tight while the other raised an acorn aimed right for Seungwoo’s head.

“Hey!” He shouted, dodging the second throw. Seungwoo yanked out his earphones. “What are you doing?!”

“Excuse me,” the man said politely. “I tried to get your attention, but you didn’t hear me.”

“So you threw acorns at me?!”

“I don’t like being ignored,” he said simply.  _ Oh right, he’s a cat. _

Seungwoo brushed the debris out of his hair and straightened himself up. “What can I do for you…”

“Sejun,” he said.

“How can I help you, Sejun,” he asked, trying his best not to get frustrated with him, but something about him reminded Seungwoo too much of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland to leave his back unguarded.

“I seem to be stuck in this tree,” Sejun explained. 

“Is that so,” Seungwoo said, flat.

“Would you be willing to help me get back down?”

“What, like, should I call the fire department? They get cats out of trees, right?”

“The people with the big water hose? No, I don’t think I’ll like that very much,” he shivered. 

Seungwoo exhaled sharply through his nose. “Then how am I supposed to get you down?”

“I don’t know, but I’ve been here for hours, and you’re the first person I’ve seen come by, and if you can’t help me, I think I’ll die,” he said so dramatically that Seungwoo’s heart ached for him.

“Okay, okay, let me think,” he said, rubbing his hands on his shirt. He shuffled in place a bit as he thought, not sure how he was supposed to do this. He had never encountered a catboy stuck in a tree before, but he was sure he could figure it out. “Okay, I think I have an idea.”

Sejun looked down at him hopefully, and Seungwoo felt a nervous shift in his stomach. He didn’t want to disappoint him, but this was such an unfamiliar task... He at least had to try his best. “Okay, I’m ready.”

Seungwoo bent his knees, unsure, until his position was unthreatening. He extended out his hands and rubbed his fingers together.  _ “Heeeeeere, kitty, kitty, kitty! Tch tch tch.” _

Sejun scowled and chucked a third acorn at his head.

“Ow!” Seungwoo yelped. “What was that for!”

“That was so disrespectful,” Sejun shouted, appalled. “Do I look like a house cat to you!”

“It was worth a shot,” Seungwoo said, rubbing his head, a little ashamed of himself. “Do you have any ideas?”

Sejun thought for a minute and sighed, placing his chin on the branch.  _ “No.” _

“How did you even get up there?”

“What do you mean ‘how’, I climbed,” he said like it was obvious.

“I mean, I know that, but  _ how?” _

“I, you know,” he said, making a clawing motion with one of his hands. “Up the trunk.”

“Can’t you do the same thing back down?”

“Have you ever seen a cat climb a tree backwards,” Sejun scoffed. “It doesn’t work that way.”

“Dude, I don’t know how cat physics works,” Seungwoo said, tired. “Can’t you just jump down? Land on your feet?”

“I’d like to see you yeet yourself out of a tree in one piece,” Sejun grumbled. “You humanboys all think the same. You don’t see us as real people. We’re the outsiders. The freaks. The furry garbage monsters.”

Seungwoo sighed and looked down, truly ashamed. He was right. The only difference between him and Sejun were the shapes of their ears and that one of them had a tail. And that one of them had got himself stuck in a tree. “I’m sorry.”

“Thank you,” he said. “Don’t do it again.”

Seungwoo would try his best from then on to be more respectful and sensitive to catboy plights in general. “So, what were you doing up there in the first place?”

“Chasing a squirrel.”

Seungwoo made a pained sound and sat down on the sidewalk.  _ Okay, Mr. Cat. Do cat things and get mad at me for assuming you do cat things.  _

“Alright,” he said, looking back up into the tree. “Is there someone I can call for you?”

“I don’t think so,” he said, still straddling the branch for dear life. 

“Maybe there’s a park maintenance building nearby with a ladder,” Seungwoo suggested. “I can go check?”

“No! You can’t leave me! What if I fall!” 

“You’ve held yourself up this long,” he pointed out. 

“Yeah, but my legs are starting to hurt,” he whined. “And I’m due for my nap.”

Seungwoo’s lips thinned. “Alright, well, all I can do then is wait until someone else comes… or we call the fire department.”

Sejun whimpered. He closed his eyes and shook his head.  _ “Not them…” _

“Okay, we’ll keep thinking,” he said. “It’s no problem.”

Sejun looked anxious up there, and Seungwoo wondered if the reason he was so sensitive was because he was afraid. The only thing he could do until Sejun made the decision to get himself down was try to calm him enough that he didn’t have an accident and fall. He had assumed that catboys could land on their feet or at least manage a graceful somersault onto the grass, but that didn’t seem to be the case at all. 

If someone else came down the trail, maybe he could convince them to stay with him long enough so that he could get help, but he really thought he needed to call the fire department. Getting cats out of trees was their speciality (other than putting out fires, he guessed).

There had to be a secret to getting cats down so he took out his phone to see. The first article that came up suggested putting the cat’s litter box at the base of the tree to coax them down which seemed reasonable enough.

“Hey, do you use a li–,” he started before quickly shutting his mouth tight.  _ Nope, can’t ask that. That’s probably  _ super  _ disrespectful. _

Sejun squinted. “What were you about to ask me…”

“Nothing! I was just thinking out loud! I’m still looking!”  _ That was a close one.  _ He immediately continued to look, but with the other options being “an open can of tuna” and “the cat will come down eventually,” he was out of hope. “I don’t know what to do.”

Sejun let out a low distressed yowl, his catness coming through. “I guess I’ll die.”

“Listen,” Seungwoo said, standing up. “Let me go find a ladder, and I promise I’ll come back to get you.”

“What if I fall,” he asked, scared.

“Then you’ll be out of the tree,” he said.

“Huh,” Sejun considered. “I guess that’s true.”

“If you fall, just tuck and roll,” he said. “It’ll be fine, I promise! Just aim for the grass!”

“Okay,” he said, nervous. “Are you sure you have to go?”

Seungwoo looked around. If there was anyone else, he would have bribed them to go or stay with him because he hated to see someone so scared, but there was no one but him. “Just hold on, and don’t throw any more acorns.”

Sejun pressed his cheek against the bark and frowned as he hugged it tighter. Seungwoo turned to run back down the trail the way he came hoping to run into a park employee. Were their park employees? Surely someone had to work there to pick up the trash, empty the bins, fix the water fountains, check on the benches… surely…

He ran almost back to the other side of the park before he saw someone with a long metal rod picking up trash. His heart jumped for joy.

“Excuse me!” Seungwoo ran up to him. “Hi, do you work here?”

“Yeah,” he said, his eyes shifting. It was probably unusual for park goers to approach him suddenly, but this was an emergency. “My frien- there’s a man stuck in a tree. I need a ladder to get him down.”

“How’d he get up there if he can’t get down,” he asked, suspicious.

“He’s a,” Seungwoo cleared his throat. “A catboy.”

“Oh,” the man said, returning to his work. “You try throwing a can of tuna at him?”

Seungwoo frowned. He didn’t like this dismissive attitude. Sejun was a person, and he was in distress! He needed help, not  _ tuna! _

“I need a ladder,” he insisted. “Can I please use one?”

“Sorry, kid, I can’t unlock the unit without authorization, and they aren’t going to give it for a cat stuck up a tree. Maybe try the fire department.”

“He’s not just a cat,” he mumbled to himself, but there wasn’t anything else he could do. “He’s a person too.”

Defeated, he walked back up the trail, but he couldn’t make himself run again. Instead, he used that time to think of a plan. He wouldn’t be able to climb up to help him without claws, the benches were welded into the ground so he couldn’t pull one over to him, and he couldn’t convince Sejun to shimmy back down the way he came because he was  _ scared.  _ What if he called the fire department to ask for advice? They couldn’t bring the big scary hose if they didn’t know where he was…

Once he got back, he decided that he would sit back down and call the fire department to ask how to get him down, and Sejun would be fine because there wouldn’t be a hose. It was an excellent idea, and he couldn’t wait to tell him.

But when he got closer to the tree, he saw something quite distressing. A small crowd had gathered around the tree with Sejun still up in it. Seungwoo ran to get closer.

“Please, leave me alone,” Sejun pleaded, covering his face. Several people had their phones out taking pictures and videos of him and giggling. A couple rotten kids even threw their shoes at him. Seungwoo couldn’t believe this. What did they think they were doing?!

A camera flash went off from the cover of the shade, startling Sejun until he almost fell out with a scream.

“Hey!” Seungwoo shouted, shooing off the person who did it. “Leave him alone!”

He waved his arms at everyone until they slowly lowered their phones.

“Please go away,” Sejun pleaded. 

“Can’t you people see he’s scared,” he said, outraged. “Leave!”

A few people backed away, startled, but they still filmed it like it was the circus.

“Sejun, let’s get down,” he said up at him. “You wanna go get some ice cream? Some sushi? Chicken? Anything you want.”

“I like ice cream,” Sejun said into the tree.

“Look we can go right now,” he said, reaching his arms up. “Come on, let’s go.”

“I’m gonna fall,” he said, shaking his head

“No, you’re not, I’m gonna catch you,” Seungwoo said. “I promise! I’m really tall! And strong!”

“You don’t look that tall to me,” he said.

“That’s because you’re up there,” he reminded him. The crowd watching them made Seungwoo anxious, but it also made him desperate to get away because they were going to make him fall. They were gonna make him fall, break his leg, and then put him on youtube like a joke.  _ “Please.” _

“I can’t,” Sejun said, shaking.

“You can! I’ll catch you, and we can go get ice cream! You like chocolate?”

He didn’t get much of a response so Seungwoo tried again.

“Caramel?”

Nope.

“Strawberry?”

Sejun lifted his head up and wiggled his nose, interested, his whiskers sparkling in a beam of sunlight.

“You want strawberry ice cream?” Seungwoo tried.

Sejun nodded his head. “Maybe.”

“Okay,” he lifted his arms again. “Just jump down, and we’ll go get some strawberry ice cream. It’s on me.”

Sejun considered it, but the eyes on him made him shrink back.

“Can everyone please give him some space,” Seungwoo asked. Some more people stepped back, and some even left out of guilt, but a few remained so they could enjoy the spectacle up close. “Okay, Sejunie. Is it okay if I call you Sejunie? We can do this.”

Sejun pushed himself up a bit and nodded. He turned his body carefully until he was sitting up on the branch with his legs hanging down, his tail flicking anxiously behind him.

“Are you ready,” Seungwoo asked.

“Yeah, maybe,” he said.

“Okay,” he braced himself. “Jump when you’re ready.”

Sejun closed his eyes tightly and nodded with determination. With a screech, he folded himself forward and tumbled down to the ground. The weight of him hit Seungwoo like a boulder, and the two of them flopped down into the grass with a loud  _ oof _ with Seungwoo sprawled out on his back and Sejun on top of him, still clinging on too tightly. Sharp claws dug into his sides, but Seungwoo knew he was just shocked. It hurt, but he could manage it.

“You’re okay,” he groaned, patting him on the back. “I’ve got you.”

“Did I make it,” he asked, his face buried cowardly into his neck.

“Yeah, you made it,” Seungwoo said. He looked up at the sky with shaking eyes. This was not a position he had imagined himself getting in at all that day. Everything hurt from his head to his toes, and he was pretty sure he was bleeding, but he got him down safely, and that was all that mattered.

“Thank you,” Sejun said, and Seungwoo was sure he was sniffling into his neck. Was he crying? No… 

“Are you sniffing me,” Seungwoo asked.

“Sorry,” he whispered. “I’m a cat.”

He sniffed again, and Seungwoo frowned. “Sejun?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“You gotta let me up,” Seungwoo said, not used to being sniffed by another person, the salty mix of sweat against skin too appealing to a cat.

“Oh, sorry,” Sejun said, pushing himself off of him. They both stood up and brushed themselves off, willfully avoiding eye contact. Seeing that the excitement was over, the crowd dispersed, no longer interested in them which they were both grateful for.

Seungwoo reached up and idly touched his neck where Sejun had been sniffing and found it to be slightly damp. He blinked quickly. “Did you  _ lick me?” _

Sejun’s eyes shifted away to avoid his gaze.

_ “Dude!” _

“I said I’m a cat!” Sejun shouted. 

Seungwoo wiped the damp spot with the back of his hand, a little grossed out, but what could he say? He was a cat. And a person. A catboy who had been stuck in a tree for half a day, and he supposed that him licking him meant he was grateful for Seungwoo’s help. “Let’s go.”

“Where are we going?”

_ “I  _ need ice cream,” Seungwoo said as he limped back down the trail. 

“What kind do you like,” Sejun asked as he skipped after him.

“Mint chocolate,” he said, tired.

“Oh! I’ve never had that before! Can I have some!”

Seungwoo looked at him from the corner of his eye and smiled. “If you want.”

He followed him happily back down the trail, and they found an ice cream shoppe nearby. Sejun  _ really _ liked ice cream, and somehow Seungwoo caught himself thinking that he  _ really  _ liked Sejun. Maybe finding a catboy stuck in a tree wasn’t nearly as disastrous of an event as he had originally thought, but if there’s one thing he knew, it was that his day had turned out to be even better than he imagined it would have been when he stepped out into the morning breeze thanks to going to the park instead of the gym.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!! I can be found on twitter @hugsubin :3


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